A Very Marauder Christmas
by Sophskii
Summary: A One-Shot of Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs' third year Christmas. I hope it brings you joy this holiday season!


**Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you all have a wonderful holidays, and a glorious New Year! I hope that this little one shot of the Marauders brings you joy, and next year I'll try for an advent calendar! My New Year Resolution is being better at updating more often! Anyway, like I said! Happy Holidays!**

 **Disclaimer: I own zip (Though it would be great to be given the rights for Christmas)**

The snow fell lightly and covered the white forest and the castle that it surrounded. Christmas had come to Hogwarts, and the castle was practically empty, except for four young Gryffindors, five Slytherins, three Hufflepuffs, one Ravenclaw, five teachers, one caretaker, one groundskeeper, and one poltergeist. Owls soared freely around the stone building, and other creatures galloped, ran, and played within the forest.

The Gryffindors engaged in a snowball fight with the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaw. One boy in his red and gold cap, Peter Pettigrew, laughed as a snowball hit him square in the chest, knocking him to the ground. Another boy, this one with long black hair and maroon mittens, Sirius Black, helped him up, also laughing. The two others, James Potter and Remus Lupin, continued pelting the opposing team with snowballs that, more often than not, fell apart before they hit their intended target. But this hardly mattered to the recently teenagers. The one Ravenclaw, a pretty Asian girl named Chuanli Chang, hid behind her friend, a Hufflepuff boy named Amos Diggory. Another Hufflepuff, a girl with blonde, curly hair named Helena (pronounced Heh-lay-nuh) Kinsela threw a snowball that hit James with enough force to knock off his glasses.

"Hey!" He called, a smile on his face, "I call a timeout while I am currently incapacitated," Remus knelt down and picked the glasses up off the ground. He dusted them off with his scarf, before handing them back to his friend.

"Okay," James called out, "proceed,"

At one point Sirius enchanted a stack of snowballs to chase around the Hufflepuffs, and Chuanli did the same to chase the Gryffindors. Maybe an hour later (though none could be sure of the time) They went inside to the Great Hall, where the house tables had been moved to the sides, and one big square table now sat, with enough seats to comfortably fit the eighteen people who would be dining there each night. They each took a seat, and the elves sent up a cauldron of hot chocolate, a ladle, and eight mugs. There was also a gravy boat filled with whipped cream, a small bowl filled with marshmallows, a shaker of cinnamon, another shaker of nutmeg, and a can of cinnamon sticks. It was all going well and good, until the Slytherins entered. A seventh year named Lucius Malfoy and his cronies, Jonathan Crabbe and Narcissa Black. There were also two students in the Gryffindor's year, Bellatrix Black and Severus Snape. They took their seats as well, and immediately the other students scooched away. Four of the Slytherins were notorious for their bullying and harassing of muggle born students and half blood students. So, that cleared three of the four marauders, what the Gryffindors called themselves, the one Ravenclaw, and one of the Hufflepuffs. The last two boys and one girl were halfbloods and one muggle born. The last Slytherin was Severus Snape, who was a bully target by the marauders themselves. Malfoy sniffed, turning his nose up at the group, before sitting down and propping his feet up on the table, Narcissa on his arm.

"What are you still doing here?" Lucius said, acknowledging the other houses, "Go back to your own filthy little dormitories," The students stood up and glared at the older Slytherin. They left, but James and Sirius did not leave them unscathed. Right before they stood up, they rolled six dung bombs under the table so they landed right beneath the Slytherin's feet. They then stood up and exited, followed by Remus and Peter. As they left, they heard the cursing and shouts of the Slytherin's as they stepped (accidentally, of course) on the vile pranking devices. The four triumphant boys sauntered through the hallways, leisurely making their way up to their common room. They were careful to jump the trick stairs, and avoid hallways with talkative paintings. They passed the armor, which had been enchanted to sing Christmas songs when a student passed by it, and the statue of the one eyed witch that held the secret passage to the Honeyduke's cellar. They debated a pop into Hogsmead, but decided against it, seeing as the cloak was up in the dorm and they didn't have any money on them, and it was already getting late in the day. Knowing the group, they'd never make it back before dinner. So, they continued on, climbing the stairs and strutting down the hallways until they came to a picture of a woman with curly hair and a pink dress on.

"Password?" The Fat Lady asked.

"Nativitatis," Peter said. The portrait swung forward, and the group stepped into their cozy common room. The fire was blazing orange, casting shadows of the stockings hanging in front of it on the walls, and the chairs were empty. A Christmas Tree had been set up in a corner (at the boys' requests) and the Owls were given specific directions to place the presents underneath it. Parchment, quills, books, candy wrappers, and many other random, assorted items were strewn across the floor, and the boys each flopped into a chair. They called a house elf, who gladly bought them each a cup of eggnog, and played Exploding Snap and Gobstones until Professor McGonagall came around and told them it was time for dinner. The group then merrily followed their head of house, joking with each other and, surprisingly, their teacher. When they entered the Great Hall, it was obvious that it was Christmas Eve. The lights on the tree seemed to shine brighter than before, snow fell from the enchanted ceiling, yet disappeared before it hit anyone's head, the scent of pine, cinnamon, and chocolate wafted through the air, and the teachers all sat gladly at the table. The group took their seats, and noticed that the elves had laid out silverware and plates that seemed nicer than usual. It was only when Remus picked up his spoon, and dropped it quickly, hissing and clutching his hand, that they realized it was silver. Almost immediately, Dumbledore called the elves and told them to replace the sets with ones made of nickel. The dinner was delicious, but casual. Nothing compared to the feast they were anxiously waiting for the next night. Two years of prior experience had them preparing and fantasizing for what the elves will whip up. After a dinner free of jeers from the Slytherins (probably due to the teachers' presence) The groups all make their way up to their common rooms, and go to sleep, each of them anxiously waiting for the morning.

OoO

"Moony! Get out of bed! It's Christmas!" Was the first thing Remus Lupin heard as he groggily opened his eyes to see an overexcited Sirius Black leaning over him.

"Oh, God," Remus said, as he sat up, "How much sugar have you already had?" But, though the tone of voice and question wouldn't indicate it, Remus was smiling. He loved Christmas, always had and always would. It was the one day of the year when the houses were all kind to each other, and no one cared if you were a pureblood, or a muggle born, or a half blood, or anything. It didn't even matter that he was a werewolf. The one day of the year.

"Oi! You two! Get down here! We can't wait for you for much longer!" James' voice drifted up the stairs and into the common room, where Sirius was practically dragging his friend to the door. Eventually, meaning after Remus had grabbed his dark blue robe and thrown it on, the two made their way down to the common room, where colorful individually wrapped presents sat under the tree. James had already started separating them, so that they wouldn't have to dig through the presents to find their own, and Peter was digging through his stocking, and already had a candy cane in his mouth.

"There you are!" James said as he caught sight of the two, "Finally, we can open the gifts!"

He threw a green one to Sirius, who groaned when he saw it was from his mum. He opened it and found a silver Slytherin crest.

"Old banshee," he muttered, quickly throwing it into the fireplace. Next, Peter opened the one from his parents, and was delighted to find a new small pet owl, seeing as his had died of old age over the summer. Remus received a long, multicolored striped scarf, and smiled when he saw the bewildered expressions on his friends' faces.

"It's from a muggle TV show," he said, "Doctor Who," James received a parcel of sweets, and laughed lightly when he saw they weren't only wizard candies, but muggle ones as well. He had a terrible addiction to jaw breakers. They each opened the rest of their presents, and a n hour later there were action figures flying around on broomsticks, a kitten mewing, an owl hooting, and a large stack of books threatening to fall over in the common room. The boys didn't even bother changing into their clothes for breakfast, much to the Headmaster's amusement. Breakfast was grand, all sorts of different delicacies laid out for them, and afterwards all four houses went out for a snowball fight, eventually even coaxing the teachers and the groundskeeper to join them. They skipped lunch, and by dinner time everyone was definitely ready for the turkey. Which, by the way, was huge! Practically twenty pounds, and absolutely delicious. There were also mountains of mashed potatoes, many boats filled with incredible, thick gravy and cranberry sauce, peas, carrots, and wizard crackers. The sound of fireworks, laughter, and cheers filled the hall as one after another they pulled them open and found incredible gifts. That night, the students went to bed exhausted and happy. None of them could wait until next Christmas.


End file.
